Story: Reverses Collide

Anime: Gravitation

Chapter 11: In Due Time?

Tohma sighed as he walked along towards Shuichi's apartment. This time his reason to be there was not for Shuichi but for Eiri. No one else had seen him since he stormed out of BD Studios.

The phone in Tohma's pocket vibrated persistently as he was on his way to work, sighing annoyed, he opened it, "Hello?"

"Tohma. I really need to speak to you."

"Can't it wait till I get there?" Tohma asked bored.

"No. It can't." Suguru said firmly as a response to Tohma's laziness.

"Why?" He started to sound a little more concerned.

"It's about Eiri. He's quitting."

"What?!" Tohma couldn't believe it, "Why?"

"Shuichi left Japan for New York, and Eiri figured out I had something to do with getting him there. I felt he was being unreasonable about the matter, and warned him. But apparently, he wasn't taking any chances and just flat out decided he was through." Suguru explained, but of course leaving out his participation in Eiri's anger.

"Jeeze…" Tohma sighed, "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Talk to him at least. Make him change his mind."

"I don't know if I'll be able to do that."

"Which one?"

"The first one will be hard enough. But changing his mind... he's really transformed since he met Shuichi."

So there he was. At the doorstep, contemplating whether he'd actually be able to do what he planned. Deciding it was mandatory; he knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

He heard something fall soon after his knock, which worried him. "Eiri?" He jiggled the door knob. Finding it was unlocked, he entered the dark apartment. "Eiri?" He asked again. Tohma wrinkled his nose at the pungent smell of cigarette smoke that hadn't been there when he first came to the apartment.

"What do you want…?" Eiri asked from the couch in the living room. He sat up, hair covering half of his face and his shirt was removed which gave him a tired appearance.

"I came to talk to you." Tohma replied, trying not to stutter.

"About what? Me quitting?" Eiri asked disgusted, "You can't change my mind. Not unless I know where Shuichi is."

Tohma swallowed, "Originally, that's what I planned. But I knew you weren't going to agree with me."

"Then what do you want?" Eiri asked irritated.

"I came to talk to you about the night Shuichi left."

"Why? He left…Suguru's the one who should be telling me about it."

"He left because of me, Eiri." Tohma said honestly.

Eiri laughed long and hard, "That's bull shit. Because of you?"

Tohma's facial expressions refused to change, even as Eiri insulted his authority. "During that lunch break, I actually came here. I told Shuichi that I didn't approve of your relationship with him an-"

Eiri cut him off, "Why is it always about approval with you fucktards? Huh?! Approval, acceptance…what the fuck does it matter as long as I'm happy?!" He yelled, making his point clear.

"Eiri…" Tohma made sure he had the boy's attention, "What I told him, basically, was that you didn't love him."

Seconds of silence came between them when Tohma said this, and Eiri's face went from darkly amused to bloody rage. He launched himself from the couch, towards Tohma who wasn't less than a meter away, and punched his face, knocking him to the ground. This was the one time, Eiri found the strength to fight back for something he cherished.

Breathing heavily, Eiri started to yell once more, "You knew he was on medicine! What the fuck did you think he was going to do if you said that?! I thought he killed himself that night!! Do you fucking know what that's like?" Tears sprang from his eyes as he continued to spout off incomprehensive words and sentences.

Tohma, who was totally surprised at the sheer strength that put him to the floor, propped himself on his elbows, unable to speak.

"Get out." Eiri said in a sore voice from crying. His head hung weakly, but when he didn't hear a shift in body weight acknowledging his command, it snapped up and he screamed loud and clear, "Get out!!"

Unsteadily, Tohma rose to his feet and walked towards the door. He wanted to say something like, "You shouldn't smoke, it'll ruin your voice." But he knew it wouldn't be heard and would just be a waste of words. So he left, and upon closing the door, he could hear Eiri crying still which made him tense knowing he had been the one that caused his pain.

Shuichi found himself in a hotel room in New York City. Why this city? He thought to himself. Then he remembered why. First place that came to mind. Maybe I'll try Chicago. And other city's names ran trough his troubled head as he tried to escape the reason he had come to the city in the first place.

He looked out of the window from his room, it was a nice view. Near Times Square, and high above the ground where he could see other people's lives play out on the streets. So many lives out there…each one with a purpose. I wonder what it's like...for each one of them. Shuichi put his arm against the window and rested his head on his limb. It had already been five days in New York, and it was a painful five days.

"Eiri…" He whispered to himself and closed his eyes.

"Shuichi!" Eiri called from the front door of the apartment, "I'm home!"

"Oh goodie!" Shuichi came to him and took a grocery bag from his full arms, "Holy shit you bought a lot of stuff."

"Yeah, I know, you need to start eating better." Eiri took the bags to the kitchen counter and started to unpack them.

Shuichi stopped in his tracks, with a mortified look upon his face, "What are you going to make me eat?"

"Oh…you know." Eiri said as he placed a box of oat meal in one of the cabinets, "Protein, Vitamins, stuff you need."

"Since when did you get so food smart?" Shuichi chuckled. "It's hard for you not to burn anything."

Eiri turned and shot him a glare before going back to the cabinets "Doesn't mean I don't know what isn't good for you."

Finally they came to the last bag. "Shit, Eiri. You got enough stuff to last me a decade."

"I'm eating it too, you idiot." Eiri rolled his eyes and took out the contents of the bag.

Shuichi gasped when he saw what it was. "Wh- Where did you get th- that?!" He stammered pointing at a giant sized box of strawberry pocky.

"Oh, this?" Eiri smirked, "You can have it once you start getting into good eating habits."

Shuichi gave him a bored look, "Sadist."

"Mormon." Eiri quickly replied feeling confident at what he just said.

Shuichi did his best not to laugh. "Eiri…do you even know what that is?"

"…A religion?"

Soon, Shuichi couldn't hold it back any longer and let out a loud laugh at Eiri's complacency.

"Whaaat?!" Eiri demanded to know what was so funny.

Finally Shuichi's laughing calmed enough for him to respond, "I love you, Eiri."

Eiri looked at him as if he had two heads, "And you call me the weirdo." He headed towards the bedroom to hide the pocky, "But I love you too." He called back to Shuichi.

Shuichi smiled and ran after him, "You can't hide that stuff from me! I can smell it!"

"Oh yeah?!" Eiri replied, "We'll see about that!!" The competition of the giant strawberry pocky was on.

Eiri laid there on the floor of the apartment, just taking long drags and exhaling it back into the air above him. He had already gone through an entire pack since coming back from BD Studios. At this point, it didn't matter where Shuichi was, because Eiri had the feeling he wasn't coming back. He probably left me because he couldn't take the fact that I had been tainted by Mr. Kitazawa. Even if it was different, I know it still hurt him.

He pressed his index and middle finger against his forehead to relieve the tension headache he was experiencing. That's just great. I lost my love and my job all within twenty four hours. Way to go Eiri. He thought sarcastically to himself. I wonder how many more failures I'll achieve within the next couple days.

Shuichi decided to get off his ass and actually do something while he was in New York. Not only were the streets congested, but the sidewalks were too. Especially around a club with squealing teenagers. Huh. Must be a celebrity or something. He thought to himself.

Though, when the "celebrity" made it through the crowd, he ran right towards Shuichi, stopping just inches away from him. He looked up at Shuichi's face as he was leaned over from stopping himself, "Shuichi?" He asked curiously.

"Eh?" Shuichi responded, not recognizing the man's face.

"Uwahhh!! I can't believe you don't remember me!!" He childishly started to cry.

That's when it clicked in Shuichi's head, "Ah! Don't cry Ryu! I remember you."

"Really?!" Ryuichi brightened up quickly and noted that the fans decided to leave him alone for once which was odd. "How about we go to an ice cream parlor?"

"Sounds good." Shuichi said with a tired smile and followed Ryuichi as he bounded from sidewalk to sidewalk trying to remind him that there were traffic lights.

A/N: I love you guys XD